When I got my first Contender over 40 years ago, my available 35 cal options were 357 magnum, 35 Herrett and 35 Rem. The 35 Herrett was considered to be “the choice” for a 10” gun if you wanted more than the magnum. It was known to be mean at full power, but the performance was impressive.
Now we have more options. We also have tools that can determine which choices make more sense. I did a comprehensive evaluation that shows that there are better Contender options than the 35 Herrett when it comes to a 10” barrel.
Frame stretch on the Contender can occur when the breech thrust is too high. With 357 mag, or 223 based cartridges, you will start stretching primer pockets on your brass before you damage your gun. This is not true with larger diameter cartridges.
A detailed thrust analysis is complex but I will simplify my effort by using a consistent assumed case wall thickness. A first pass Quickload evaluation with default parameters showed the 35 Remington to have the highest estimated breech thrust, just less than 4800 lb. Using 4800 lb thrust, the allowed chamber pressure was backed out for all calibers. This pressure was then used to evaluate velocities. Note that I do not guarantee that this level of thrust is acceptable and do not recommend any load used in this evaluation. The entire exercise is just to compare cartridge choices on a level basis.
Recoil and muzzle blast are also concerns for these options. Both are minimized with reduced muzzle pressures and blast is reduced with higher percent burn values. The top choice for least recoil and blast is 360 DW. This reduction comes at some loss of velocity, but I consider this to be a reasonable tradeoff. The rest of the choices all deliver essentially the same performance for velocity but are ranked best to worst for recoil and muzzle blast.
Code:
Bullet : .358, 180, Speer FP 2435
Barrel Length : 10.0 inch = 254.0 mm
C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested
loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand
that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet
and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations.
USE ONLY FOR COMPARISON !
Cartridge: .360 Dan Wesson Base Diameter (in): 0.379 Wall (in) 0.02 Thrust (lb): 4800
Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time
% Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms
--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Norma R123 99.0 16.0 1.04 1754 100.0 53180 5006 0.702 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Ramshot Enforcer 100.1 16.5 1.07 1727 98.9 53180 5296 0.695 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Alliant 2400 101.1 15.5 1.00 1724 98.3 53180 5320 0.695 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Code:
Cartridge: .357 Maximum Base Diameter (in): 0.379 Wall (in) 0.02 Thrust (lb): 4800
Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time
% Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms
--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Winchester 296 97.7 23.4 1.52 1933 95.4 53180 8534 0.665 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Hodgdon Lil'Gun 98.9 23.0 1.49 1931 100.0 53180 7844 0.660 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Hodgdon H110 98.2 23.6 1.53 1895 97.5 53180 7930 0.669 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Cartridge: .350 Legend Base Diameter (in): 0.39 Wall (in) 0.02 Thrust (lb): 4800
Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time
% Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms
--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Winchester 296 87.3 27.2 1.76 1986 96.9 49890 10533 0.676 ! Near Maximum !
Hodgdon Lil'Gun 88.0 26.5 1.72 1969 100.0 49890 9496 0.676 ! Near Maximum !
Hodgdon H110 88.1 27.4 1.78 1947 98.6 49890 9755 0.679 ! Near Maximum !
Code:
Cartridge: .357 Herrett Base Diameter (in): 0.422 Wall (in) 0.020 Thrust (lb): 4800
Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time
% Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms
--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Norma 200 *C 101.9 36.0 2.34 1962 91.2 41882 12475 0.732 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Vihtavuori N120 *C 101.0 33.3 2.16 1948 96.8 41882 11467 0.712 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Alliant Reloder TS 11 *C *T 98.9 34.4 2.23 1940 91.8 41882 11579 0.708 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Cartridge: .35 Remington Base Diameter (in): 0.458 Wall (in) 0.02 Thrust (lb): 4800
Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time
% Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms
--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Alliant AR-Comp *C *T 101.9 42.8 2.77 1945 86.6 34978 14163 0.753 ! Near Maximum !
Alliant Reloder-10x *C 95.2 39.0 2.53 1921 86.8 34978 13378 0.770 ! Near Maximum !
Norma 200 *C 92.0 39.0 2.53 1915 88.2 34978 13495 0.790 ! Near Maximum !